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This note provides an overview of strategies for multi-business firms. The note describes (i) what is meant by "corporate advantage", (ii) the different approaches that multi-business firms can pursue in order to create corporate advantage, (iii) the specific corporate level choices (portfolio, ownership, and organizational choices) that firms make, (iv) certain principles that characterize effective corporate level strategy, and (v) reasons why corporate strategies can fail. In its treatment and coverage of these issues, the note emphasizes similarities between the core principles of business unit strategy and of corporate level strategy.

learning objective:

To introduce students and managers to the considerations involved in formulating and executing corporate-level strategy.

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To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.

On March 28, 2011, The New York Times website became a restricted site where most of the content was protected behind a "paywall." Users who exceeded the limit of 20 free articles per month were required to pay for either a digital or print subscription. The newspaper industry had been suffering from revenue declines over the past decade, and the transition to digital media was difficult to navigate. Revenues from online advertising were not sufficient to replace the loss of print revenue, and many publishers had explored charging readers for content, with mixed success, where specialized sources like The Wall Street Journal were successfully using the model, but several other general news sites had failed. Newspapers and content creators in general were very interested in understanding whether transitioning to the paywall at the most popular news website would succeed, and whether it could become a blueprint for future success as a sustainable business model. There were several difficult issues to examine in determining the digital strategy for The Times. Would consumers remain as engaged with a site protected by a paywall? Would advertisers react positively to such a move that walled off readers? Would readers value both the print and digital versions of the content, or would it become necessary to create new content? The Times had several choices in designing the paywall, including determining the digital content, pricing, as well as how to interface with readers of secondary news websites like blogs that posted links to news articles. Should they design a "leaky" paywall where determined users could easily slip through, or a "bulletproof" paywall like the Financial Times had done, where users had to pay before they could access any content? What choices would provide the foundation for a successful business model?

learning objective:

The purpose of this case is to help understand the key issues in transitioning a content business from the current print medium to the future digital medium. It will involve a deep exploration of how managers must understand product strategy to align the value creation process with the characteristics of the medium or channel, while keeping in mind the landscape of collaborators and competitors has been altered significantly by digital technology. How should a manager determine the content across multiple media? Should they design the product for complementary value creation across media, or are they best thought of as substitutes? Should the company accelerate the transition to digital or try and bolster the value for both media? This case has been taught in the Digital Marketing elective course at Harvard Business School. It would also fit well in elective courses on Product Strategy or Technology Strategy.

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The case explores how Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, developed the Nano, the world's cheapest car. The case focuses on the translation of Ratan Tata's (Chairman of Tata Motors) vision of a safe affordable car for the masses by Ravi Kant, Managing Director of Tata Motors into the Nano Project. The case raises questions around breaking the price - quality barrier and changing existing internal processes to accommodate revolutionary new ideas. The dilemma of success - Tata Nano was a runaway bestseller - left Tata Motors debating how large a bet they should make on the Nano and what kind of capacity commitment this requires.

learning objective:

The case illustrates how to build a global company that can successfully compete with companies from developed economies and how large companies innovate in a breakthrough way in the marketplace.

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In 2009 the Economist continued to experience impressive growth and operating margins while many of its peers reeled from both a cyclical downturn and structural threats to print publishing. The case describes the history, organization, and business model of the Economist, and describes three issues confronting Andrew Rashbass, the group's chief executive: first, reevaluating the magazine's digital strategy; second, preparing for e-readers; and, third, positioning the company to exploit what the Economist described as an era of "Mass Intelligence" where more readers sought out sophisticated and challenging information sources.

learning objective:

The case describes the history, organization, and business model of the Economist, and can be used for three purposes: (a) exploring reasons for its superior performance where many of its peers were languishing (b) diagnosing the nature of various threats and opportunities confronting them, including their severity and the urgency to act (c) formulating a strategy to address these threats and opportunities.

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To what extent does leadership influence organizational performance? In this chapter, Noam Wasserman, Bharat Anand, and Nitin Nohria try to provide a balanced answer to this question. Replicating the variance partitioning method used by Stanley Lieberson and James O'Connor in their 1972 study on leadership and organizational performance, they analyze the performance of more than 500 publicly held U.S. companies (across 42 industries) over a 20-year period. Their conclusion? That although external forces such as industry structure and company history may explain a greater part of the variance in company performance over time, the influence of leadership is also substantial. In fact, in some circumstances, a board of directors' decision to replace a CEO could have as much impact as a decision to change the industry in which the company operates. But whatever the circumstances, the role of leadership-and its impact on corporate performance-is significant and should be taken seriously. This chapter was originally published as Chapter 2 of "Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice: A Harvard Business School Centennial Colloquium."

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In early 2010, e-readers like Amazon's Kindle, and Apple's impending iPad, threatened to disrupt the book publishing industry. The case provides an overview of the industry, describes the broader trends regarding e-readers, and asks: how should major publishers like Random House respond to these trends?

learning objective:

The case provides an opportunity to examine corporate change among print book publishers amidst trends towards digital platforms. In addition to examining changes within this particular industry, the case is useful to highlight certain general issues involved in any corporate strategic change process, particularly: understanding the impact of external shocks on industry economics; clarifying underlying assumptions regarding trends in technology, customer behavior, and competitor response; and crafting integrated strategic options in response.

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In November 2007, Amazon introduced the Kindle, the first electronic reader with wireless functionality. The case describes the launch of the Kindle and provides information on representative players in the industry (or broader ecosystem) who are likely to be affected, and react: including Penguin (the leading educational publisher), Barnes & Noble (the largest bricks-&-mortar retailer), Apple and Sony (as manufacturers of competing devices), Google (as a major provider of free e-content) and Adobe (as a competitor in creating an e-book standard).

learning objective:

(i) The case presents a powerful setting to examine how new media affects traditional media firms, and is of direct interest to the publishing industry. (ii) The case can be used to examine how a new technology can potentially reshape industry structure, and how existing players should react. A particularly interesting aspect is how players' reactions may be shaped the actions of others in the ecosystem - in this case, how a publisher's response depends on the moves of bricks-and-mortar retailers, device manufacturers, competing providers of e-content, or competitors for e-book standards. Useful concepts are the pricing of complements, and open versus closed standards.

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Berkshire Hathaway describes the history and strategy of one of the best known investment firms over the last forty years. The case describes the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett, its legendary chairman and CEO, the gradual diversification of its portfolio, its capital allocation strategy, compensation structure, and corporate governance approach, leading up to August 2008.

learning objective:

To examine the reasons for success of a highly diversified and one of the best known investment firms in the US over the last 40 years, and how it differs from the strategies of typical private equity firms or conglomerates.

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Between 1985 and 2007, Danaher has been one of the best-performing industrial conglomerates in the US. This case examines the corporate strategy of this diversified, global corporation. It describes the firm's portfolio strategy and the Danaher Business System -- a systematic and wide-ranging set of organizational processes the firm has developed to drive growth and create value. In 2008, the firm confronts various challenges in sustaining its impressive historical performance. First, can it continue to balance organic and acquisition-led growth? Second, what will be the impact of increased competition from private equity players? Third, for how long can its strategy of "continuous improvement" continue?

learning objective:

(i) to examine corporate strategies of conglomerates; (ii) how conglomerates can add value to portfolio companies even in developed markets.

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